As every crossword aficianado knows, an olio is a collection of unrelated things that might be of interest to someone, somewhere. Here's the first one of this trip:
- Despite the fact that Whitecourt, Alberta, is the site of a huge -- and hugely important -- meteor impact crater, the local museum has no reference to it anywhere. The explanation? It's on private land and letting people know where it is would only result in harassment of the land owner.
- The price of gas in Alberta (or at least the part we went through) ranges from 112.9 to 116.9 per litre. As soon as you cross into B.C., it jumps to 136.9 a litre. The further north you go, the more expensive it gets. We arrived in Fort Nelson to find ... get ready for it.... gas is 156.9/litre. It's entirely possible we'll have to wait for our next pension installment before we can afford to go any further.
- Northern B.C. and Alberta consist of miles and miles of miles and miles. We're ever grateful we didn't attempt the massive round trip we'd planned. From the navigator's seat, it looks a lot like this a lot of the time:
- Along the way, we've noticed quite a few, um, unique folk. This person came prepared for a great outdoor weekend: Camper, quad, boat and.... moss-covered moose antlers.
- Fort St. John, B.C., boasts such colourfully-named companies as Redneck Oil Services and Cancor Rathole Inc.
- Temporary oil and gas field workers live in "open camps", small villages of trailers offering them miniscule accommodation "starting at $95.25 per day".
- Never, ever plug your electric cooler into the 30-amp power source found in many campgrounds. RIP MobiCool.
- Besides being the location of Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway, Dawson Creek, B.C. boasts a unique feature in its street plantings: Swiss chard.
Uilleam guarding Mile 0 signpost
Swiss chard and other yummies
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